1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce transactions. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic commerce transactions with a marketing company. The invention also relates to using electronic networks to manage independent businesses associated with the marketing company.
2. Related Art
The Internet is becoming the world's new market place. The number of people and businesses that have access to the Internet is growing rapidly. Businesses are increasingly interested in selling and marketing products and services over the Internet, particularly via the World Wide Web (“WWW”).
In particular, marketing companies, including multilevel marketing companies, are increasingly becoming familiar with the power of the Internet and its reach to potential new customers and members. Heretofore, however, the full capabilities of the Internet to provide a complete opportunity for electronic commerce with a marketing system in combination with a membership buying club have not been achieved.
For example, conventional systems and methods for carrying out electronic transactions, such as shopping, have generally required separate electronic shopping baskets when shopping from various merchants that may be associated with a particular web site. In addition, conventional systems have generally not been capable of providing a distribution system that allows distribution of the products of several sellers. Indeed, such distribution systems have not allowed products to be distributed through a single independent sales network but with different levels and structures of compensation for different product lines.
Conventional multilevel marketing systems, in particular, have generally not been able to provide a system for allowing members within the system to purchase directly from a marketing company associated with the marketing system. Moreover, these conventional systems have generally not provided bonuses and/or commissions based upon sales made directly to the members by the marketing company as well as sales made to the members from a member's sponsor. Indeed, conventional multilevel marketing companies have relied upon the shear number of the distributors or members associated with the marketing company to promote and market its products and services as well as add members to the marketing system. Moreover, those companies doing business over the Internet have generally required that a shopper purchase products via a web page that is sponsored by one of the members of the marketing company.
Thus, there is a need to overcome the disadvantages described above. There is a particular need to provide a system and method for a single marketing distribution system that can distribute the products of several different sellers, all distributed through a single independent sales network but with different levels and structures of compensation for different product lines. There is a further need to allow shoppers to shop for and buy products from different sources in a single transaction. There is a particular need to provide a system and method that allows a shopper to purchase products directly from a marketing company, a registered business owner, and a merchant partner and to do so using an electronic shopping basket that is preferably persistent throughout the web site.